Commander Rourke
Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke is the hidden main antagonist of Disney's 41st full length animated feature film Atlantis: The Lost Empire. He is one of the very few Disney villains who does not initially appear to be evil, but gradually shows his villainy over the course of the film. He initially appears as a respectable commander, but as the movie progresses, he turns out to be a ruthless and crazed mercenary out to capture the Heart of Atlantis and make money off of it. He was voiced by the late legendary actor James Garner. History Lyle T. Rourke was born in 1860 and learned the ways of military life at an early age when his father, a cavalry officer named Lt. Col. Jackson, was killed in battle in 1864 during the Civil War. After repeated expulsions from boarding school for fighting, Rourke resolved to follow in his father's footsteps and joined the military in 1875 at age fifteen. There, he exhibited a remarkable talent for leadership, owing to his analytic mind, charisma, and refusal to acknowledge the white flag surrender. He married in June of 1887, but his wife left him after only four months. He held numerous expeditions during his career, most notably leading the Whitmore Expedition to Atlantis. Film Role Although he is the main villain, his true colors are not revealed until near the climax. In 1914, Milo James Thatch (the hero of the film), a linguistics and map expert working for the Smithsonian Institution, believes that an ancient manuscript known as the Shepherd's Journal will lead to the location of Atlantis. When his proposal to lead an expedition to Iceland to find the Journal is denied by the Institution's board (since they don't believe in the existence of Atlantis), he angrily resigns, but then finds himself contacted by millionaire Preston B. Whitmore, a friend of Milo's grandfather, Thadeus Thatch. Much to Milo's delight, the elder Thadeus Thatch had already located the Journal in Iceland, and asked Whitmore to give it to Milo when he was ready. Whitmore asks Milo to become part of a team to search for Atlantis on a high-tech submarine. Milo joins Commander Rourke, his second-in-command Helga Sinclair, demolitions expert Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini, geologist Gaetan "Mole" Molière, medical officer Joshua Sweet, tomboy mechanic Audrey Ramirez, cook Jebidiah Allerdyce "Cookie" Farnsworth, and cynical communications expert Wilhelmina Packard. Upon meeting Rourke in person, Milo shook hands with him, and Rourke states that it's been a pleasure to meet the grandson of old Thaddeus. The sub is sunk by an underwater Leviathan and the team suffer numerous casualties, but Milo, Rourke, and the remaining people manage to reach to the entrance of Atlantis hidden underwater. After going through several obstacles as stated in the Journal, Milo and the team are able to locate the underwater city of Atlantis, where it still survives in a bubble beneath the earth, much to the team's surprise and amazement. They are met by the city's princess Kida, who brings them over to her father, the Atlantean King, who allows the team to stay for one night before they can leave for the surface per Rourke's request. As the team enjoy their stay in the ancient city, Kida discovers that Milo can read the Atlantean language, long forgotten by her own people ever since a tidal wave consumed much of the ancient empire thousands of years ago. They dive to read ancient underwater murals, and learn about the Heart of Atlantis, which is the source of the power that saved Atlantis from the tidal wave and of the strange blue gems that each Atlanean wears. As they leave the ruins, they are caught by Rourke and the rest of the team, who have turned mercenary and are after the Heart Of Atlantis. They find the crystal in a chamber below the King's quarters, where Kida is drawn to the crystal and infused with its power. Rourke plans to take Kida to the surface, but Milo protests, stating that without the Heart, Atlantis will be wiped out of existence. Rourke, taking no regard of this, orders his crew to move on, but not after personally punching Milo in the face and mocking him of his discovery by breaking the frame for his picture of his grandfather. Outraged, the other team members turn against Rourke and give in support for Milo and the Atlanteans, and Rourke, unmoved by this, leaves them all behind with Helga and the rest of his men. To ensure that they won't follow him, Rourke rigs the bridge with explosives to ensure that they remain trapped in the city forever. The King, mortally wounded by Rourke, gives Milo his crystal and begs him to rescue his daughter and save Atlantis. Milo and the Atlanteans discover how to use the crystals to activate ancient flying machines and they give chase as an air force. As Milo and the Atlanteans head on, Rourke had his men to activate a blimp to haul the crystal through an ancient volcano to the surface, but Milo and his team arrive, engaging into a fight against Rourke's troops. During the lengthy battle, Milo's friends and the Atlanteans gained the upper hand against Rourke's forces and annihilated them, while Milo rammed his machine into Rourke's blimp, causing it to lose altitude slowly. Determined to 'lighten the load', the greedy Rourke betrays Helga by throwing her off to the volcano base, saying that it's nothing personal. He then engages into a fight with Milo, and during their scuffle, the fatally wounded Helga pops out her flare gun and shoots at the blimp as retribution for Rourke's betrayal, causing the blimp to set on fire and descend in a faster rate, much to Rourke's anger. Losing what's left of his sanity, Rourke grabs an axe to kill Milo, but the latter takes a piece of glass containing the crystal's essence and uses it to make a scratch on Rourke's arm, turning Rourke into a crystallized monster. Milo would then push the crystallized Rourke into the blimp's propellers, destroying him for good. As the remaining pieces scatter, they break the chains of the cargo hold, allowing Milo and his friends to take the crystal back to the city to save the whole civilization from an imminent volcanic eruption caused by their battle. Personality Rourke first started out appearing as a respectable and calm leader, seemingly taking extreme notion of the safety of his team during the expedition and mourning over the casualties as the expedition continues. However, this was merely a facade to hide and reveal his true nature: that of a greedy, ruthless, and almost crazed person, willing to get anything he wants, as he planned to steal of Heart of Atlantis to sell for a high price, and didn't even care if the Atlanteans would die as a result. He didn't even care about either letting his own men being killed or betraying his right-hand woman Helga during the final battle, as he was more occupied of his blimp gaining altitude so that can escape away with the crystal. Rourke is also pragmatic and tough and makes his own rules. Rourke, a pragmatist both personally and professionally, tends to take what he needs and discards anything he considers "useless baggage". Quotes Gallery Easy To Miss Lyle Shadowing.png|An easy-to-miss foreshadowing of Rourke's true role in the film. Milo meets Rourke.jpg|Milo meets Rourke This journey should be enriching for all of us.jpg|"This journey should be enriching for all of us." Atlantis-disneyscreencaps.com-5155.jpg Rourke revealing his true nature.jpg|Rourke revealing his true nature to Milo Rourke with the missing Journal page.jpg|Rourke with the missing Journal page Atlantis-disneyscreencaps.com-7022.jpg|"If you gave up every stolen artifact from a museum, you'd be left with an empty building." I hate it when negotiations go sour.jpg|"I really hate it when negotiations go sour." Atlantis-disneyscreencaps.com-7149.jpg|"Maybe I'm not being clear." Rourke_fatally_Punches_the_king.png|Rourke fatally punches the King. Atlantis-disneyscreencaps.com-8014.jpg|"Look at it this way, son. You were the man who discovered Atlantis, and now you're part of the exhibit." I love it when I win Rourke.jpg|"I love it when I win." Milo vs. Rourke.jpg|Milo vs. Rourke 640px-Commander Rourke.jpg|Rourke's Evil Grin as he prepares to kill Milo with a fire axe. Rourke02.jpg|Rourke 50% transformed tumblr_n9atp3hRHY1snsjmyo3_250.gif|Rourke fully transformed 640px-Atlantis795.jpg|Rourke as a crystallized monster Crystal Rourke lunges at Milo.jpg|Crystalized Rourke lunges at Milo Milo hoisting Rourke up to the propeller blades.jpg|Milo hoists Rourke up to the blimp propellers Rourke exploded and shattered into a million pieces.jpg|Rourke exploded and literally shattered into a million pieces. Trivia *Rourke has some similarities to Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, Clayton from Tarzan, The Prospector from Toy Story 2, Turbo from Wreck-It Ralph, and Prince Hans from Frozen: In the sense that they don't appear to be evil at first, but as the films progress, their true, twisted natures are revealed. *Rourke is similar to General Shepherd from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, as they are high-ranking military officers who initially appear to be upstanding, but turn out to be corrupt and betray their subordinates for their own selfish goals. *A foreshadowing of Rourke's treachery and eventual betrayal is when Whitmore places all the expeditionists photos. Rourke's photo is the only photo that's partially obscured. Another foreshadowing happens when they are about to board the sub and Rourke proclaims the trip "will be ''enriching ''for all of us." **Another example of foreshadowing is when Helga informs Rourke that there was not supposed to be people in Atlantis, and this changes everything. Determined, Rourke states that nothing has changed. 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